‘Bato’ credits impending win to protest votes for Duterte’s arrest

National

SEN. RONALD “Bato” Dela Rosa is poised to earn a new mandate, and he is crediting his impending victory to “protest votes” for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) order to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte.

As of 4:12 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, Dela Rosa was third in the Senate race with 20,257,087 votes.

“This is how high our vote count is. These are protest votes coming from the people who are very much aggrieved about what happened to former President Duterte,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino on Tuesday.

“Our rise in the results really did come with a very heavy price, and this was the freedom of President Duterte,” he added in a report by Inquirer.net.

Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague, Netherlands, on March 11 for allegations of crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s bloody antil-drug war.

Dela Rosa was the first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief of the Duterte administration, becoming the architect of the drug war.

The reelectionist senator sought second term under the banner of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), the party chaired by Duterte.

The following also ran under the PDP slate, eventually dubbing themselves the “DuterTen”:

Reelectionist Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go

Musician and lawyer Jimmy Bondoc

Former Interior Usec. Jayvee Hinlo

Former Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Raul Lambino

SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta

Doctor and vlogger Richard Mata

Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy

Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez

Actor Phillip Salvador

The PDP made a bold move on the final night of the campaign period when they adopted presidential sister and independent candidate Sen. Imee Marcos and Nacionalista Party bet and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar into their slate.

Marcos and Villar initially started under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate backed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In the partial and unofficial count, as of 4:12 p.m. on Tuesday, Go is the leading vote-getter with Marcoleta at sixth, Villar at 10th, and Marcos at 12th.